ULSD vs. Heating oil

[vallyfarm]

My neibour claims that using the ULSD in his Ford P/U that his milage has dropped quite a bit, and now is looking for a way to find the regular "old" fuel. My understanding was that reg #2 heating oil is the same as #2 deseil. Now that we can no longer get the #2 deseil is heating oil also the ULSD? Leagal issues asside, would adding some heating oil help his problem, and should I be woried about my oil furnace having problems if the heating oil is actually ULSD too? These may be stupid questions, but would still like to know. Mike

 

[dmccarty]

My Ford has gotten its best milage this past summer. It squeeked up to 20.9 mpg. The truck has 90,000 miles on it. My high mpg was 20.5/20.6 which I could hit every so often. This is all hand calculated not off the trip computer which is always off.

ULSD is supposed to have less energy per gallon but I'm certainly not loosing mpg with the new fuel. I won't say it caused my mpg to increase but ULSD did not cause me to loose mpg as I had expected.

My mpg will drop to the low 20's maybe high 19's when it starts getting cold. I read an interesting article on what effect mpg. Tire pressure, speed, air temperatures, fuel quality, road surface material, and of course the drivers foot have an effect on mpg. Low air temps can really get you which explains my mpg drop in the winter. Low air temps take the engine longer to get warmed up which burns fuel. The air is denser. Your tire pressure goes down. Your truck computer might send more fuel to the engine to get it warmer quicker.

Since he has a Ford he might want to check out the TheDieselStop.Com - www.thedieselstop.com. I have heard of various reasons for mpg loss such as clogged fuel filters and air in the fuel lines.

Later,
Dan

 

[SnowRidge]

My neibour claims that using the ULSD in his Ford P/U that his milage has dropped quite a bit, and now is looking for a way to find the regular "old" fuel. My understanding was that reg #2 heating oil is the same as #2 deseil. Now that we can no longer get the #2 deseil is heating oil also the ULSD? Leagal issues asside, would adding some heating oil help his problem, and should I be woried about my oil furnace having problems if the heating oil is actually ULSD too? These may be stupid questions, but would still like to know. Mike

According to a business news article I read recently, the new refining requirements for diesel have removed it from the heating oil category, competition wise. The story concluded that heating oil and (road) diesel prices will no longer be linked at the hip.

Throwing that conclusion aside, it would appear that there are significant refining differences between the two. If nothing else, the requirement to add a lubricity enhancer at the tank farm probably would not apply to heating oil if it actually was the same product as ULSD, so using it for diesel fuel might well be a really bad idea.

Of course, all this is speculation based on news reports and Internet posts, and we know the track record of those two sources.

 

[crabjoe]

Have him try and add some TCW3 2 stroke oil to his diesel fuel instead of heating oil. Make sure he doesn't get any TCW3 that is dyed red. That's the color the revenuers are looking for.

TCW3 is meant to burn and will bring back lubricity to the fuel. I'm not sure if he'll regain his lost mileage, but I use it in my Dodge and I haven't found any mileage loss with it and ULSD.

BTW, I just add a pint with a fillup, which usually doesn't mean I get more then 25 gallons of fuel. The 1st time I added it, I used a quart. I also purchase it in bulk because I use it for my boat, but if I'm out somewhere and I don't have any with me, it's as easy as walking into a Walmart to grab some for the truck.

 

[Z-Michigan]

How closely does he track mileage? I've tracked every tank of fuel in my Jeep CRD (diesel) both before and after ULSD and I have not detected any significant difference in mpg. It hasn't increased, but I don't think it has decreased. The ULSD is supposed to be 2-3% less energy content, which is a small difference, and it also has a bit higher cetane and should burn more completely, both of which might counteract the lower energy content.

 

[dirt clod]

Add one ounce per gallon of the cheap walmart 2 stroke oil thats sold at walmart in gallon jugs to the diesel fuel. That will put back the lube thats needed. This is not a small change. It makes a big differance. 1st time I ran it I thought My engine had quit running when I took my foot off the throttle!

 

[cp1969]

My Ford has gotten its best milage this past summer. It squeeked up to 20.9 mpg. The truck has 90,000 miles on it. My high mpg was 20.5/20.6 which I could hit every so often. This is all hand calculated not off the trip computer which is always off.

ULSD is supposed to have less energy per gallon but I'm certainly not loosing mpg with the new fuel. I won't say it caused my mpg to increase but ULSD did not cause me to loose mpg as I had expected.

I have not noticed any drop in mileage with ULSD, either.

My mpg will drop to the low 20's maybe high 19's when it starts getting cold. I read an interesting article on what effect mpg. Tire pressure, speed, air temperatures, fuel quality, road surface material, and of course the drivers foot have an effect on mpg. Low air temps can really get you which explains my mpg drop in the winter. Low air temps take the engine longer to get warmed up which burns fuel. The air is denser. Your tire pressure goes down. Your truck computer might send more fuel to the engine to get it warmer quicker.

The winterization of diesel fuel by the fuel suppliers causes a slight loss of mileage. Diesels don't 'send more fuel' when the engine is cold as a gasser might. If you send more fuel, the engine makes more power. Sending fuel is what controls the power output of a diesel because that is the only thing you can control--the intake tract is unrestricted. A gasser may send more fuel via an enriched mixture but that is to compensate for a condition (fuel condensing out of the air, causing a too-lean condition) which does not happen in a diesel. You may think you're buying #2 diesel in the winter because that's what the sticker on the pump says, but you are almost certainly buying a blend of #1 and #2 in cold climates, hence the loss of mileage.

Since he has a Ford he might want to check out the TheDieselStop.Com - www.thedieselstop.com. I have heard of various reasons for mpg loss such as clogged fuel filters and air in the fuel lines.

Later,
Dan

I don't think either of those conditions will cause a loss of mileage. A restricted fuel filter will cause a loss of power, but that usually ends up in a gain in mileage because you have dialed down the max hp the engine can produce. Air in the fuel lines will result in an engine not running at all.

 

[doxford jim]

My neibour claims that using the ULSD in his Ford P/U that his milage has dropped quite a bit, and now is looking for a way to find the regular "old" fuel. My understanding was that reg #2 heating oil is the same as #2 deseil. Now that we can no longer get the #2 deseil is heating oil also the ULSD? Leagal issues asside, would adding some heating oil help his problem, and should I be woried about my oil furnace having problems if the heating oil is actually ULSD too? These may be stupid questions, but would still like to know. Mike

Hi Mike,

Traditionally the heating oil has more paraffin wax in it than the regular diesel fuel. This would cause mor gelling of the fuel at low temperature if you were to mix it. Also, I am not sure, but doubt that the heating fuel will be filtered as well as the diesel fuel (as there are not the fine clearances to worry about in a heating furnace, compared to fuel pumps and injectors) and could cause scoring of fuel pump elements and injectors to stick. A lot would depend on the fuel filter system instlled in your vehicles.

Don't know if this helps any.

Jim

 

[LBrown59]

My neibour claims that using the ULSD in his Ford P/U that his milage has dropped quite a bit, and now is looking for a way to find the regular "old" fuel. My understanding was that reg #2 heating oil is the same as #2 deseil. Now that we can no longer get the #2 deseil is heating oil also the ULSD? Leagal issues asside, would adding some heating oil help his problem, and should I be woried about my oil furnace having problems if the heating oil is actually ULSD too? These may be stupid questions, but would still like to know. Mike

There is no difference here between heating oil and diesel fuel they are both the same thing .

 

[SnowRidge]

There is no difference here between heating oil and diesel fuel they are both the same thing .

'Were' maybe the operative term these days, at least in the US.